overview

As part of the Communicating with Congress project, CMF is offering educational programs to associations, companies, vendors, or any group that communicates with Capitol Hill. The programs will provide participants with:

• What congressional staff say are the best and worst methods for communicating with Capitol Hill;
• Which campaigns get noticed by staff and Members, and why;
• Which messages are most likely to receive responses and which are most likely to be ignored;
• When to send messages to help ensure they are factored into the decision-making process;
• What information to include in messages to get noticed; and
• The difference between advocacy campaigns that make noise but have no impact and advocacy campaigns that are genuinely heard by Capitol Hill.

For a sample of the information presented in these programs, view our online tutorial.

cmf research on citizen engagement and communications

Our programs are based on the extensive research we have conducted on communications between citizens and Congress, including:

• Through a partnership with Zogby International, a nationwide survey of more than 9,000 citizens about why and how they communicate with Congress and what they expect in return.
  
• Focus groups with “engaged” citizens and the general public to solicit their views on congressional communications and Web sites.
  
• Surveys, focus groups, and interviews with hundreds of congressional staffers from Member offices, committees, and leadership about how technology and the Internet have affected democracy, their work, and their ability to effectively represent their constituencies.
  
• A conference with more than 200 congressional staffers, advocacy and public affairs professionals, academics, and technologists to discuss solutions for more effective communications.
  
• Online town halls with 18 Members of Congress and their constituents to understand the impact online interaction has on constituents’ views of Congress and their Representatives.
  
• Extensive research on the best practices in online deliberation, Web site content, and congressional communications.

cmf credentials

CMF has more than 30 years of experience conducting comprehensive research on congressional office practices, presenting training programs to hundreds of congressional staff annually, and working with individual House and Senate offices to improve their operations. This experience provides CMF staff with a specialized understanding of how Congress works, and how to communicate effectively with staff and Members.

Organizations interested in inviting CMF to make a presentation should contact us at 202-546-0100 or through our Web form. Speaking fees are negotiated based on the scope, length, and customization of the presentation/training.

comments from cmf program participants

“The information CMF provided to our key contacts and grassroots volunteers was critical to helping them understand the myths and reality of communicating with Members of Congress and their staff. To be honest, I'm not sure there is any other organization that has the ability to conduct, measure and analyze this kind of broad-based survey work on Hill staff other than CMF.”
- Gregory Knopp, Managing Director, Political Programs, National Association of Realtors

“The research CMF presents and the manner in which they present it is always a hit with those listening. The information is timely and extremely helpful for those in my line of work.”
- Chris Merida, Manager, Public Policy, American Society of Association Executives

“CMF’s insight and expertise went a long way in helping our grassroots activists. Their presentation illustrates the reality of congressional offices in an age of quick messaging and will definitely help shape our communications in the future.”
- Marcelino Oliva, D.O., Chairman, American Osteopathic Association Council on Federal Health Programs